"Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture": IKEA As Bad As Wal-Mart

Salon:

My mother still owns, and uses, the same vacuum cleaner she bought early in her marriage, just after World War II. She still lives in the house my father -- not a carpenter by trade, but an electrician -- built in the early 1950s with the help of his brothers, a small but sturdy Cape Cod-style dwelling with hardwood floors and solid wood doors that close with a hearty, satisfying clunk (as opposed to the echoey click of hollow-core doors). Today the idea of anything -- a household appliance, a piece of furniture, a house -- being built to last is almost laughable. When your vacuum cleaner stops sucking, you most likely haul it out to the curb and trek to Target or a big-box home-goods store to replace it. Even if you could readily find someone to repair it, the trouble and the cost would be prohibitive. If you need a bookcase, there's always IKEA: Sure, you'd prefer to buy a sturdily built hardwood version that doesn't buckle under the weight of actual books, but who has extra dough to spend on stuff like that? The IKEA bookcase is good enough, for now if not forever.

Read the whole story: Salon

Comments

[oldandintheway1]

It is wonderful that the author of this article ( and others) still appreciate the style and functionality
of "older" furniture and homes. But; ltes face it , few of us can afford ro buy and VERY few of us have the skills necessary to repair or even build our own furniture or homes any longer. I find that by Shopping at IKEA i can find quality furniture and accessories that are simple to assemble (the engineering speaks for its self) and last foir a very long time. Frankly Wal Mart lost me a LOOONG time ago. I think the author has an agenda...

[gfs5541]

Think about in this way: We are patronizing these establishments who work to hurt the middle class. When we shop at Wal-Mart, Target, et,al we are justifying the layoffs, the factory closings, the offshore outsourcing and this recession. We Americans are always looking for the lowest prices, yet we turn a blind eye when we find out WHY THE LOW PRICES ARE SO LOW.

[Laura Minnick]

Bullseye! We need to address this fundamental conundrum in our modern American society: We demand the lowest of the low prices on goods and services, but we also want upper middle class jobs with good wages and benefits. When will we understand that we cannot have both?

[pissedmichael]

So true. Some of us have items we've had since we were kids, that were actually manufactured in our lifetimes. However, we tend to be over 50 at least. The truth is, nothing is made to last for a very 'good' reason--so we will continue to buy, period. The shame of it is, there are so many materials that are durable and relatively cheap to produce and to incorporate into designs for homes, cars, bookcases, and even TV's and other 'major' home appliances. My first love is reading. I try to buy in hardback whenever possible, only to be forced to store them in plastic bins in the garage. Why? Because it's impossible to find anything I'd consider attractive and durable enough to display them inside my home. Impossible, due to cost--as is the practice with all goods these days the true value of what's offered is artificially inflated on the premise that it's the 'real thing.' Give me a break. I need at least a dozen floor to ceiling bookcases averaging about 3 feet in width. This would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,400.00 with no guarantee they would last my lifetime. I've looked into building them myself, but the offerings for lumber in the big box home improvement stores are even more out of my range. When I can't afford to buy something new, I trek out to the garage and struggle with my bins in search of material to re-read.

[MNmommy]

Weak.

Ikea and Target are hardly the bad guys here.

[plzchuteme]

I don't know about that. They're pretty bad, but the most troubling part is the shift in expectations of the consuming public. It's getting to the point that the average consumer could not recognize quality and value if it bit them in the behind.

[MNmommy]

Target? Bad?

You don't know very much about their corporate philosophy do you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Corporation#Philanthropy

[sonoffestus]

Thank you! 'the average consumer could not recognize quality and value if it bit them in the behind." As someone who works in consumer products, your comment is so right on.

You get what you pay for and most folks these days want cheap.

As for Ikea, they do a pretty good job. It's not the highest quality for sure however, they offer good design at a fair price. That is, if you like a more Scandinavian/ European look. More import as an apartment dweller I find their product scaled for those of us who live and work in smaller places.

[Curdleberg]

I like Wal Mart and Ikea.

[m66]

the tone of this entire piece is elitist, hypocritical, and patronizing. what is the alternative? the rich enjoy comfortable and conveniently appointed homes, while the working classes struggle with broken hand-me downs? not everyone can afford to patronize their local craftsman for an heirloom-quality cedar chest. i prefer to see ikea as a continuation of the bauhaus movement, bringing good design to the common people at affordable prices. i know they've improved my own quality of life, and no--i don't dispose of the things i buy when i grow bored with them.

[KMAz]

The alternative is to not believe you need to have tons of "stuff" and to save up and purchase quality items which will last a long time and give you satisfaction. Being a slave to owning the next big thing and everything that is out there is a good part of why we as a nation have such huge personal debt.

[m66]

you are willfully missing my point. who said i throw any of it away, or buy more than i need? get off your high horse. i don't even have a car.

[pissedmichael]

I don't throw them away because I am bored with them either. I throw them away because they are shoddy goods and tend to either fall apart with minimal use, or fail to operate for any reasonable length. I too like IKEA. But, again, even their prices are not commiserate with their true value. I can't point to one thing I have purchased in the last 30 years that has either lasted, held it's value, or even appreciated in value. Nothing is made that way anymore and it's a shame.

[LemonMeringue]

Buy less stuff, buy better stuff, buy used and recycled stuff, but avoid Wal-Mart and big box stores that sell junk because you are getting ripped off there.

[twistedknickers]

Better yet, patronize your local artisans and craftspeople.

[KMAz]

In a society where being a craftsman is not admired the way it is elsewhere, finding a craftman who can get around to doing something for you in a timely manner is difficult because they are booked up months in advance. Unfortunately, patience is another item America is short of.

[Waltfl]

Come on now, Ikea has fairly decent furniture, better quality than the average furniture store at 25% of their prices. Ikea Billionaire owner Invar Kmaprad

http://dorakristina.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/ikea.jpg

lives in a 3 bedroom home in Switzerland and drives 12 years old Volvo. They have made some bad corporate decisions as well, and some their stuff was linked to child labor in third world countries. Than was 20 years ago, and they stopped after it came out. Ikea workers in European countries earn decent wages, are often unionized, and have good health insurance. What I've heard they treat their employees in their new sores in the USA well.

I'd take them over WalMart any day.

[JScott]

Not news here you can easily find all these on the internet and same for others (Target et al).
A necessary evil, if you have to get something from them be minimal with it.

[bokiluis]

I have friends who could care less about articles like this. I am left with torn feelings of principles vs. pragmatism. And thanks to capitalism, it is near impossible to eat healthy at reasonable costs or own quality goods without being raked over the coals of your burnt wallet.

[KMAz]

Develop your own skills and decide what has the greater value in your life. Everyone claims they don't have the time to do it themselves, but that is usually a decision on how they choose to use their time. Want better food, most places in the country allow gardening at least a quarter of the year, and some places almost year round. Need casegood furniture, build your own, you don't need all the fancy tools to really do it, they only make it quicker and easier. There's a lot of things you can't do yourself, besides making a plasma TV, but there are a lot of things you can.

[Dolphinfan65]

Excellent points.

[maryec00]

IKEA has great stuff, and it's not at all shoddy or flimsy. The stuff lasts forever. Further, I love shopping there, unlike Walmart, which is a nightmare. The author's pushing a personal agenda with this article.

[AxelDC]

Lumping Walmart and IKEA together because they are both inexpensive is like saying that Michael Jackson and Tina Turner are the same because they are both black singers.

[Dolphinfan65]

What is the difference between the two, besides, European style.(I will give IKEA that)

[TXfemmom]

I try to use vintage and antique pieces in my home. My husband hates it and would prefer the new, poorly made MDF stuff we see, even in expensive pieces. Recycling and reuse of the wood from these pieces, beautiful, real wood is a very green thing to do. When I have a piece reupholstered I try to use organic natural fibers and vegetable source foam for the padding. It costs just a little more but it means that your home and the world will be just a little cleaner and its' resources managed better.

I recently bought a table and my husband hated it because it had some imperfections. The piece was 120 years old and showed some wear. I paid a local teenager to use fine steel wool on it and then fine sanding and supervised him in refinishing it with a tinted wax, as I am disabled and can't do the work. He earned some money, stayed out of trouble, and was quite pleased with himself for having achieved it and I found that refreshing. The table looks fantastic and this teenager learned some appreciation on how "old" things can be cool. I also had a great time getting to know this young man and now he occasionally stops by and has tea and a cookie with me and tells me about his day.

[twistedknickers]

Your husband married a wise woman.

[pissedmichael]

Hear, Hear.

[rf dude]

The "story" is pumping a new book -

like many, MANY other "stories" here on HP...
--

[noamjunior]

After going to the salon article and reading through it a couple of times-I am convinced that the author is somehow biased against IKEA- the author uses vague accusations -stores LIKE Ikea use chineese labor- with some generalized stats thrown in. NO direct accusations against IKEA or people that manufacture for IKEA for the abuses - but hey- wallmarts a big store, ikea is a big store- they must both be bad.
terrible articel

[gbrooks]

Ikea's stuff isn't as shoddy as the author implies, however, I do miss the days of heirloom furniture like my grandparents. I inherited an art deco bedroom set that I'll pass down to my own kids someday. The Ikea stuff will only eventually be passed to a landfill or I'll make it into a raised-bed structure and let it rot naturally.

[ramper]

IKEA has a variety of things (some great, some not) like any other furniture store. They guarantee everything and their service is excellent. Without IKEA over half of teens and students would be using cardboard boxes for furniture.